Rahul hails Modi for first ‘PM-like’ action

BULANDSHAHR/LUCKNOW: At his road show in Bulandshahr on Friday, part of the ‘Deoria-Delhi’ Kisan Yatra, Congress vicepresident Rahul Gandhi praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the surgical strikes undertaken by the army in PakistanOccupied Kashmir (PoK).

Gandhi said that he, along with the Congress, stood with Modi on the issue of checking cross-border terrorism. At the same time, he also berated Modi for ignoring the interests of farmers, labourers and the poor.

Gandhi said that over the past two-and-a-half years, the strikes were the first action that one would “expect from a PM”. “For the first time, the PM has done good work for which the Congress party and I support him,” said Gandhi. He also congratulated the Indian Army, thanked the jawans, and offered his condolence to the slain soldiers.

However, Gandhi did not forget to target Modi for promoting the interests of industrialists while ignoring cultivators. “Modiji did not do anything for the farmers, the poor and the labourers,” he said.

Meanwhile, BSP supremo Mayawati said the government should have given a go-ahead for the strikes soon after the Pathankot attack. She also cautioned the BJP against trying to go overboard with celebrations or taking “electoral advantage” of the issue, saying the situation had also led to new security challenges for the country.

“By demolishing terror camps in LoC, the army has fulfilled the promise made by it to the people of the country after the Uri attack,” Mayawati said in a statement here.

“Giving a go-ahead for army action by the Modi government is a right but late move ... it should have been done soonafter the Pathankot attack in January this year ... perhaps it could have saved the lives of 19 jawans in Uri,” she said.

“This is not the time for the Modi government to either celebrate in over-excitement or make the wrong attempt to take political and electoral advantage on the issue as the present situation has also posed many challenges before the country...there is a need to remain vigilant for security of the country and its citizens,” she said.

“There is an immediate need to secure all international borders, especially with Pakistan. This issue has been given very little importance in past two-and-half years resulting in continued terror activities causing loss of lives of civilians and jawans,” she said.